Ceramic materials have been considered for use in the fabrication of armor components because they have high hardness capable of withstanding armor piercing projectiles and are relatively lightweight. The use of ceramic materials in armor applications, however, is limited by the low impact resistance of these materials caused by brittleness and lack of toughness. One of the significant drawbacks to the use of ceramic materials in armor applications is that they lack repeat hit capability. In other words, ceramic materials tend to disintegrate when subjected to multiple projectiles. To successfully utilize ceramic materials in armor applications, it is necessary to improve the impact resistance of this class of materials.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an armor component formed of a ceramic material that has improved impact resistance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for forming an armor component from a ceramic material that has improved impact resistance.
Additional objects and advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention.